Europe has become a frontrunner in fixed offshore wind. Can this success story be replicated with floating offshore wind, a technology that would lift the sea depth constraint and thus open up wider market opportunities? This research study looks at the main success factors for this emerging...

European energy policy

The European energy policy research axis whithin Ifri's Center for Energy & Climate examines the major policy regulatory issues of the European internal and external energy policies, with a focus on the integration of energy markets and the deployment of low-carbon technologies.
Director of Ifri’s Center for Energy & Climate
...Research Fellow, Center for Energy & Climate
...Senior Advisor, Center for Energy & Climate
Associate Research Fellow, Center for Energy & Climate
...Associate Research Fellow, Center for Energy & Climate
...While international multilateralism is under strain, it is vital for France and Germany to defend it, since it is the most appropriate system for preserving their interests – particularly in terms of welfare, security, prosperity and environmental protection. Against this backdrop, three...
French battery cell manufacturer Saft and Opel, the German subsidiary of automaker PSA Group, are finalising the details of a major investment project in battery cell manufacturing. Is the European Union (EU) finally challenging Asia’s dominance on battery cells production? What chances...
The low-carbon energy transition in France, the European Union (EU) and the world is today taking place unevenly and too slowly to preserve the climate and biodiversity. CO2 emissions are continuing to rise, while governments’ commitments are insufficient: in the long-term, the...
Ten years after the January 2009 gas crisis, Russian-Ukrainian gas relations are at another turning point: the then concluded contracts are terminating on 31 December 2019. While trilateral talks brokered by the European Commission (EC) have started in July 2018, the real negotiations about...
At a time when the European Union (EU) is discussing its long-term climate strategy and drafting new legislation to foster the decarbonization of its gas sector, a close look at the experience of Denmark, Germany and Italy with renewable gas production can provide valuable lessons.
The General Data Protection Regulation and the energy sector
...Interest in deep seabed mining is growing due to the increasing in global demand for metals and recent technological progress. Critical metals are used in low carbon energy technologies, as well as in the mobility, electronics and the defense industries. Metals become strategic when they are...
In September 2010, China stopped all exports of rare earths and associated products to Japan, depriving Japan’s industry of essential raw materials. This decision highlighted the tensions around the trade of critical materials and China’s monopoly on a group of particular metals. Western...
When it comes to energy and electricity in particular, there can be no winner in the Brexit negotiations. The only reasonable objective should be to minimise losses and avoid trade friction.
A New EU Framework for a Well-Functioning and Low-Carbon Electricity System Seminar
After years of debates around the structural failures of the EU electricity markets, time has come to agree on potential remedies. With the adoption of the Clean Energy Package, a new legislative framework will govern electricity exchanges for the next decade. In parallel, the EU is about to...
Ditching Coal in North-Western Europe: Options on the Table Ifri Energy Breakfast Roundtable
Despite the EU’s long-standing commitment to climate action, its energy-related GHG emissions have picked up again in 2017. Renewables keep making inroads in the EU electricity mix but delays in reducing coal-fired generation are undermining the EU’s overall climate policy.
The Battery Alliance: can the EU avoid technological dependence? Seminar
The European Union (EU) is speeding up the deployment of electric vehicles and integrating large shares of intermittent renewables into its electricity grids. In doing so, the EU hopes to tackle climate change and air pollution concerns, but it cannot neglect the geo-economic shifts that a...
Global gas market trends and the role of gas in the European energy transition Ifri Energy Breakfast Roundtable
There is a sustained global demand growth for gas. Ample production and large investments into LNG export infrastructures in Australia and the USA and into receiving terminals all over the world are boosting trade, supported by lower prices and more flexible supplies....
Cybersecurity in the Energy Sector: What Role for the EU? Ifri Energy Breakfast Roundtable
The energy sector experiences an unprecedented digital transformation upsetting its activities and business models. The convergence of the global industrial system with the power of advanced computing and analytics reveals untapped opportunities at every step of the energy...
UK Energy Policy and Brexit: Keeping the Power On
The United Kingdom faces numerous long term energy challenges, in a context of declining gas reserves, aging thermal power plants and increasing intermittent sources of power. To sustain its energy transition, the UK implemented a carbon price-floor, yet the development of renewable energy...
What to expect from COP22? Brussels, joint debate Ifri - OCP Policy Center
COP21 has been a resounding success; all 196 Parties to the UN Convention on Climate Change have committed to take concrete steps toward decarbonizing the global economy and increasing resilience to a changing climate. All eyes are now turning to the November 2016 COP22 to see whether...
Innovation as a Catalyst for Energy Markets?
In the aftermath of the Paris global agreement on climate change, innovation stands as a growing source of leadership edge in energy markets. The integration of energy storage capacities is opening new ways of thinking and may trigger new...
Challenges in aligning the EU Electricity Policy towards the Energy Union
The European energy and climate policies have reflected these last few years dissonances across Member States’ aspirations on several issues, such as on renewable support schemes, investment...
The European Gas Market Looking for its Golden Age?
The European energy market has to face numerous challenges to achieve a successful transition towards a low carbon economy, to preserve its competitiveness and to ensure its security of supply.